Brief:
1.59X upscale o' one o' t' original Estes Goonybirds, me bucko, t' Super Sky Shriek is for t' most part an E-powered Estes Fat Boy with cool fins and an even cooler paint scheme.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• BT-80 main body tube 8.0"
• Estes PNC-80BB nose cone
• 2 centerin' rings
• 48" Keelhaul®©™ shock cord
• 48" sewin' elastic shock cord (1/8")

Technically thar were no instructions for t' SSS, ya bilge rat, but part o' t' beauty o' t' rocket was that none were really needed. Arrr! Avast! I built t' engine mount usin' some centerin' rings scrounged from an Estes Patriot kit that long ago became somethin' else, shiver me timbers, a length o' BT-50 for t' motor tube, arrr, and an E motor hook and engine block. Once this had dried I tied a length o' Keelhaul®©™ betwixt t' two centerin' rings, matey, cut a slot in t' tip o' t' upper ring, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, slathered t' whole thin' with wood glue and mounted it in t' body tube. Ahoy! Begad! T' fin guide from t' original Sky Shriek upscaled a little small, but I compensated for t' error and attached t' fins with LocTite gel CA and wood glue fillets. Well, blow me down! I made another mistake here that I didn't catch until I was in t' hotel room on Friday night. I forgot t' three strakes betwixt each pair o' fins...and t' launch lug but that's nothin' new. Well, matey, blow me down! Luckily I had brought buildin' materials with me includin' balsa and launch lugs so I was able t' cut three lengths o' balsa and prime them before goin' t' bed. At t' field t' next day I painted t' strakes and t' launch lug on t' new table that I bought at Wal-Mart then attached them with epoxy. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! An hour later it be flight worthy.

Finishing:
Bein' that it is a two-color paint scheme, ya bilge rat, t' Super Sky Shriek should be an easy rocket t' paint. Arrr! Well, me bucko, blow me down! It is, but thar are maskin' and placement issues that can be a pain. Havin' already replicated t' paint scheme in a 1:1 clone, shiver me timbers, I thought I'd have no trouble with it's big brother. Well, blow me down! I thought wrong and I have no one t' blame but myself.

I printed out two versions o' t' mask for t' paint scheme, arrr, one at 158%, t' other at 159%. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I should have gone with one at 160% because that seems t' be t' one that would have worked best on t' copier I used. T' 158% upscale was far too small and t' 159% was also iffy, ya bilge rat, but since I had already left work for me NSL vacation and was leavin' t' next morning, I was stuck with it. I had previously sprayed t' whole top 2/3 o' t' rocket with Valspar Cherry Red gloss, but as I sometimes do, ya bilge rat, arrr, I forgot t' put on t' launch lug. This is critical because t' launch lug is a major landmark for correctly placin' t' mask. My rocket had no launch lug, arrr, and since this didn't register at t' time, I just stuck t' mask on and sprayed t' unmasked area with Valspar gloss black. Arrr! It was later when I was peelin' t' mask off that I realized what I had done. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! T' damage wasn't terminal t' either t' rocket or t' paint job, arrr, but t' launch lug lines up a lot closer t' one o' t' fins than I'd normally be comfortable with, and this in turn makes decal placement a lot more difficult. I had printed t' upscaled sticker decal onto a large piece o' label paper and carefully cut it out. Arrr! Aye aye! Blimey! I tried a few trial stickings t' see exactly where I could apply it without t' red or black paint showin' in a spot where it shouldn't have. It turned out that me upscale o' t' sticker had been correct, however barely. Ahoy! Ahoy! Blimey! T' finished product looks great, ya bilge rat, especially with t' "goo-goo-googly" deadlights that me daughter picked out.

Flight:
T' Super Sky Shriek was one o' several first flight rockets that I took with me t' NSL 2007. Arrr! While it wasn't me first flight on Saturday (as I still had some work t' do on t' strakes), it was definitely t' one I looked forward t' t' most. I had built it with t' Estes E9-6 in mind and it sat on t' pad next t' Mark Bundick's Astron Sprite upscale. (Bein' on t' pad next t' t' NARRRRR president caused me t' wonder if t' Sky Shriek had undergone a more stringent inspection by t' RSO in case any revolutionaries had secreted themselves inside with ideas o' doin' harm t' Bunny's Sprite. Sort o' a Trojan Rocket?)

While bein' on t' pad next t' t' president is a high-visibility, me hearties, high-pressure spot on t' bill, t' big Goony be up t' t' task. Arrr! T' E has become one o' me favorite motors and this flight be as graphic a depiction o' why that I could come up with. Aye aye! Liftoff was slow enough for me t' easily capture a launch shot, but it left t' pad with authority. Ahoy! I have no way o' figurin' how high it went, matey, but it was plenty high for me, matey, me hearties, even on a field as large as AMA. T' big fins caused it t' windcock slightly but nowhere near as much as I thought it might. Aye aye! Avast! Ejection seemed t' come just as t' rocket lost its forward momentum and recovery was just out past t' high power pads. Arrr! Easily me favorite flight o' NSL.

Flights two and three were both on E9-6s at a recent Quark section launch. Well, blow me down! While they were similar t' t' NSL flight in every way, they did do somethin' a little different. Both flights had a whistle after motor burnout that be clearly audible from t' ground. Blimey! I didn't notice this at NSL, but t' crowd was larger and noisier. Arrr! Blimey! It's also possible that it didn't whistle at NSL and did at VOA because I replaced one o' t' strakes that sit betwixt t' fins. I'm nay sure which it is, shiver me timbers, but t' whistle lends a whole new meanin' t' t' name "Sky Shriek".

Recovery:
As usual, t' recovery team consisted o' too much Keelhaul®©™ (four feet or so), too much 1/4" sewin' elastic (ditto four feet), ya bilge rat, and a nylon chute that seems t' get swapped out betwixt a lot o' me E-powered birds. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! T' date, arrr, ya bilge rat, all have performed admirably, although I wish I could find that blanket o' Perma-Waddin' that disappeared durin' t' move a couple o' years ago.

Summary:
PROs: Great lookin' design despite t' tongue in cheek intentions o' t' original Goonies. Well, blow me down! Upscales nicely in both size and power with a minimum o' muss and fuss. Someone actually thought this was a design I came up with and wondered if it be fit for family launches. Aye aye! Whistles durin' t' coast phase. Begad! Ahoy! Does anyone know if t' original did this?

CONs: What could you say bad about a flyin' tongue?